Updated almost 12 years ago on . Most recent reply
My iPhone made me $46K
I saw Brandon and Joshua's call for success stories and thought I would share this one:
Last year I sold an investment property in San Diego County and was looking for a place to put some funds. I had been dabbling in bank owned residential building lots for a bout a year in the Salt Lake City, UT area.
While looking at some MLS-listed lots in a very upscale neighborhood in Park City, UT I identified some lots on-line that fit my "good value" criteria. One lot, priced at $95k had open space at the rear and million-dollar-plus homes on either side. While those attributes were compelling, I really didn't want to tie up that much cash for who knew how long. I decided to visit the neighborhood and of course used Google Maps on my iPhone to keep me from getting lost. As I pulled up the satellite view of my favorite lot I was confused. The satellite image showed the little red pin stuck in what looked like a huge, excavated hole in the ground. If this was correct, my favorite lot had been prepped for construction.
I navigated to the lot but there was no sign of any excavation or construction. The bank's sales agent also knew nothing about it - very common for REO agents. After a bit of research at the county planning office, I found a full set of approved architectural plans, (worth at least $25,000) and receipts for over $20,000 in paid impact fees! I made an offer that day and purchased the property for $86k. I had the plans bid out for construction but just simply didn't have the resources to build that kind of luxury home on speculation. I engaged a local realtor who marketed the lot with emphasis on the time and money-savings of approved plans and paid fees. The lot sold for $146,000 in January of this year and I made a little over $46,000 after all fees and commissions. Thank you Google Maps and iphone!
Most Popular Reply
You know what came to mind reading this article? Many preach finding motivated sellers(marketing) to find great deals.
There also seems to be some value in "information" deal hunting via researching permits, code violations, county/tax records and so forth to find gold, almost creating your own deal through red flags...